IT'S MY CHOICE

I wish U the courage to be warm when the world would prefer U to be cool. For years we listened to the demands of the world and tried to meet them. We may have listened to our parents and did what they told us to do. We may have heard the needs of a lover or friend and tried to meet them all. We may have even paid heed to absolute strangers, making changes in ourselves to honor their opinions. Like a reptile, we may have absorbed the temperature of our surroundings and adjusted our body temperature accordingly. We may have found comfort in being warm when the world was warm or being cool when the world was cool. But we can, in the words of Thoreau, march to a beat of a different drummer. We can say no when others want to hear yes. We can set limits when others ask too much. We can even be warm when the world wants us to be cool. Others don't have power over us anymore. Only we have power over ourselves. I won't let anyone or anything have power over the way I feel. I can feel warm or cool it's my choice. HugsBob

Defects

We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects. Those areas of our lives we struggle with the most, such as impatience, control, energy, or procrastination, offer us opportunities for great victories. But even more, they offer greater learning, and the greatest chance for further growth and development when we relinquish our struggle. We can be certain that any activity attracting our involvement will provide chances to demonstrate both our positive qualities and our defects. Our human need to be rid of defects can hamper our progress, keeping us stuck in old behavior. But when we've come to accept defects as normal we can even capitalize on them. They define who we are momentarily. We need to remember that defects are generally assets that have become twisted with use. Therefore, we can understand their origin and smooth off the rough edges. Assets and defects will switch places in our repertoire. We can use each for the greater good of the enterprise deserving our attention. Defects have so much to teach us. They offer us meaningful opportunities for growth and mature action. Today's assets were yesterday's defects and where we stumble today, tomorrow we'll glide. My defects will offer me new learning today if I relinquish my incessant urge to be free of them. HugsBob

Infectious Joy

Ps 126:2 Our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with joyful shouting; then they said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them." Perhaps U find Urself among those in the if-only group. U say U would laugh if only U had more money...if only U had more talent or were more beautiful...if only U could find a more fulfilling job. I challenge those excuses. Just as more money never made anyone generous and more talent never made anyone grateful, more of anything never made anyone joyful. Without exception, people who consistently laugh do so in spite of, seldom because of anything. They pursue fun rather than wait for it to knock on their door in the middle of the day. Such infectiously joyful believers have no trouble convincing people around them that Christianity is real and Christ can transform a life. Joy is the flag that flies above the castle of their hearts, announcing that the King is in residence. HugsBob

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Putting a question correctly is one thing and finding the answer to it is something quite different. Questions and answers lie within us. Unfortunately, they don't come in matched sets, numbered or color-keyed so we can match them up. Sometimes we think we have all the answers and we wish we knew the questions. In fact, the questions are often more difficult to find, especially questions that have to do with our deepest feelings. What do we want? How do we feel about it? Such questions threaten to expose us- to lay bare our vulnerable selves. For once we acknowledge that we want something, we risk not getting it. But if we can remain deaf even to question, we protect our vulnerability. The other side of that, of course, is that we'll never get what we want until we acknowledge that question. We must work to choose the risk of hearing the wrong answer over the certainty of deafness. Is lack of pain worth shutting down my capacity for pleasure? Let me strengthen myself to risk joy. HugsBob

GUILTY

Many people feel "guilty" about things they shouldn't feel guilty about, in order to shut out feelings of guilt about things they should feel guilty about. Guilt has been getting a bad rap in modern circles. There's nothing wrong with guilt. In fact, guilt can be a very appropriate response to having done something we know is wrong. It's what we do with guilt that makes it a problem, not guilt itself. When we do something that we know (or come to know) does not fit into our belief system or something that we know is harmful to ourselves or others, or we know we should not have done, guilt is an appropriate response from our inner beings. It is appropriate that we feel bad about what we have done. These feelings of guilt can serve the very good purpose of being an activator to owning our behavior, making our amends, and moving on with our lives, all the wiser for our learnings. Indulging in guilt, on the other hand, can throw us and our lives out of balance. Indulging in guilt can be a massive, never-ending, self-centered process that serves no one. Guilt indulgence can only dig us in deeper. There's no learning that emerges. Are you hiding from some guilt that you need to feel or indulging in some guilt that you deserve to feel? Clean it up. HugsBob

WE NEED DISCIPLINE

Proverbs 13:18 "Poverty and shame will come to him who neglects discipline, but he who regards reproof will be honored." Discipline is one of the most hated terms of our times...right alongside patience and self-control. But have you noticed how often it comes up in the testimonies of those who win?...Here are some key uses of discipline : No runner completes the training or a race without it. No weight-loss program is maintained without it. No human body is kept fit without it. No mind is sharpened with it. No temptation is overcome without it. If you want to put a stop to mediocrity, to replace excuses with fresh determination and procrastination with tough-minded perseverance,  you need discipline!  Hmm! Hugs Bob

THE RACE IS ON

Ecc 9:11"I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, and the battle is not to the warriors." Whenever I scope out the scene here where I live, I observe a large number of people who are pursuing the so-called successful life. They would say the way to make it in this world- the way to succeed - is to increase speed, get stronger, be competitive, think more cleverly, plan longer, and have a visionary strategy - hire people with skills that are needed and life will be successful. The race is on. Get up earlier. Go to bed later. Make work a priority. Don't get sentimental about stuff like children, marriage, home, and the family. All that will have to wait...And religion? Leave that for the over-the-hill gang and preachers....The philosophy of our day will attempt to suck us in and convince us that if we're going to make it, we've got to run faster...We've got to be stronger and more competitive and more clever, even more manipulative. Otherwise, we won't be successful ...Don't you believe it!! Hugs Bob